Pokémon World Championships 2022 ends the hiatus, will take place in London

After being forced to cancel both the 2020 and 2021 events due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Pokémon World Championships is now set to return for real. For 2022, it’s promised to once again be an in-person event and will take place in August as usual, specifically from August 28 to August 31.

For the first time ever, the event will run for four days and not be held in North America, but instead the Excel Center in London, England. This was meant to be the plan for the 2020 Championships before it was canceled. As for which games will be represented, those are Pokémon Sword & Shield, the trading card game, Pokémon GO, Pokkén Tournament DX, and, for the first time, Pokémon Unite.

Despite being the newest releases, the Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl remakes and Pokémon Legends: Arceus will be excluded. It was confirmed prior to their release that the remakes would not support the competitive scene and Pokémon Legends lacks any sort of competitive multiplayer anyway.

Starting from August 17, the Excel Center will also be home to a Pokémon Center store for fans to buy merchandise from. It sounds like non-participants will be allowed in but, if you wish to watch any of the matches, you’ll need to pay for a spectator badge. Further updates, like how much one of these spectator badges will cost, will be shared on the official website in the future.